Round and Round We Go
by Mister Evil
Summary: "'Excuse me for not knowing everything.' I snorted, trying to not let him get under my skin. 'Eh. Lucky for you, I do.' He winked" CWxOC Its a non ace Charlie Weasley folks, get ready.
1. Chapter 1

"Name?" She peered at me with hooded suspicion when I came to stand in front of her desk. I was pretty sure I had to check in here but the look made me second guess that.

"Piper Morgenson. I'm here to be taken on as a researcher?" I didn't mean to phrase this as a question. It was very much a fact but the ferocity of the stare on this woman sitting behind her desk in front of me, had me questioning what I was doing here.

"Right. And your research speciality is?" She shuffled through some papers scattered on her desk, picking one up and scanning through it.

"Uh, I'm documenting the creatures and beings in Romania." I nodded, pulling my scarf away from my neck slightly. Why was talking to this lady so nerve-wracking?

"Mhm. Well..." She trailed off, apparently still reading. Suddenly her eyes cut up to mine in a flash, "Are you at all prepared for the dragons? Obviously thats a part of why you're here...in a Dragon Sanctuary."

"Oh, of course. I did say beings _and_ creatures." I forced myself to keep a level tone but failed slightly, my attitude was going to mess this up for me.

"What beings?" She raised a brow, putting the paper down.

"Uh, Vampires in particular." I divulged, tucking my scarf closer around my neck with little else to do.

"Wow...haven't heard that before but you're not the nuttiest gal I've seen come round 'ere before. Right then, sign here and you'll be in cabin five." She turned another piece of paper around to me as I leaned down to her desk. She had a bit of a Scottish brogue happening which wasn't nearly as thick as some of my relative's from the north in Ireland. They were barely understandable at times.

"Your wand will need to be scanned over there and you'll be expected in the researcher center tomorrow mornin' at 8." I nodded as I scanned the page, it was just your round of bout 'you can't sue us for injury or death' form.

"Right." I picked up the paper and handed it back to her. She didn't say anything more to me. Instead she was shuffling a stack of pages into one book-like structure before she began stamping it all, page by page. Merlin, I'm glad I wasn't her.

I shuffled over to another desk that contained an odd box with a hole in it, it looked almost like a muggle invention used to sharpen little sticks of wood. I think they used the little sticks to write on parchment. I wasn't 100% sure, honestly. My ma and da used to live in the muggle world when I was born due to Voldemort's interest in seeking out pure bloods for his little cult. We moved back in 81, when he was supposedly out of business. I think I was maybe 10?

"Place the tip in here please, Miss." A comely looking man with chopped brown hair motioned to the little box. I nodded and wordlessly pulled out my wand, sliding it into position. He waved his own and I waited a moment.

"Interesting wand, you have there." He nodded to my own, still sticking out of the little box.

"I guess so." I shrugged. It was 11 inches long and made of holly with a phoenix feather core. Particularly difficult to win over at first, but it had been there for me during my first duel with Sirius Black.

"You in for some dangerous or spiritual quests, I guess?" I could tell that he was trying to make conversation but it was weirdly slanted towards my wand. I'd heard something like that before and I supposed it was dangerous to head to Romania in search of creatures and beings of the night but it wasn't spiritual in the least. I mean my ma always said it was because I got angry too quick, but I think it's just because I waved this one in Ollivanders and it picked me.

"Sounds like you've been reading one too many books." I chuckled lightly, trying to drag some attention away from whatever was happening here...I was starting to get the feeling that there weren't many females 'round here.

"You might just be right, you're good. I just needed to register your magic with the wards, otherwise you might wander into a confundus charm or two late at night." He smiled sheepishly at me as I took my wand back out of the box and slipped it back into my black jacket pocket.

"Right then, I'll see you around." I was turning to leave and find where ever cabin five was.

"Abraxas." He volunteered his name, making me stop for a second. I pursed my lips and glanced back at him, more interested in getting into my place for the next year and finding a pub in town than talking to him.

"Uh, Piper." I was short with him but managed a half-arsed smile in his direction.

I turned back 'round and quickly headed for the door, hoping I wouldn't be pulled into yet another conversation in here. It wasn't that I hated people, it was more just that I really wanted a little kip before I went out to search for dinner.

* * *

Well, this didn't really turn out how I was hoping it would. I'd promptly gotten lost on the sanctuary's grounds and couldn't seem to find a cabin five in the lot of them. Instead I'd chosen to watch an enclosure fenced with thick planks of dark woods that contained one distressed Romanian Longhorn and a redheaded tamer.

The dragon looked to be male, fully grown, and he did not like something. Not a clue as to what that was but I was wondering why the tamers didn't go into these in pairs when the Longhorn elected the fight in fight or flight and breathed out a single torrent of fire directed at the redhead.

I went into momentary panic as my brain processed that it was in my direction as well and these guy's flames could reach fifty feet as adults. I snatched my wand out of my jacket and quickly waved it in a jerky fashion.

"MADIDUS!" My voice was just a pitch below shrieking as I felt a wave of water encase me right before the fire brushed my hair. It took me a moment, just enough to blink before I realised that I'd not only drenched myself but also the dragon and the tamer in foul wave. Oops? I was really only supposed to soak me, but I guess either me or my wand had over done it and we'd soaked everyone in the vicinity.

"Quite the wand you've got there." The tamer had dived landing near my feet at the edge of the enclosure, probably just now noticing his water-logged audience. I made a mental note to start working on charming most of my clothes to avoid becoming a blackened husk of a witch.

"Sorry." I looked down at his face, noting the scar over his cheek and just how red his hair was despite what little light there was out here. I leaned over the boards, offering him a hand to get up. He grabbed it and stood with the help of the boards, his pants were too stained for me to know what sort they were.

"Charlie Weasley." He began shaking my hand as I tried to retract it. Maybe people here were just extraordinarily friendly, like I'd heard Americans were.

"Piper." I didn't feel the need to say my last name as well, mainly because I was now wet _and_ cold. It was also the fact that his name sounded oddly familiar but I couldn't place it.

"What brings you here, Piper?" He raised a brow, looking me up and down. I imagined I looked a bit like a blonde drowned rat right about now, hopefully my hair hadn't been singed though. I attempted to retract my hand once again but this time it actually worked, allowing me to slip it around the handle of my trunk again.

"I'm studying creatures." I'd elected not to mention the beings part, considering the reaction I got from the woman earlier.

"Ah, of course. Thought you'd come get a look up close and personal?" He grinned, jerking his head back to the dragon that had once been distressed but was now watching water drip off of one of his gold horns.

"Kinda. I'm actually a bit lost." I shrugged. It wasn't as though I hadn't seen a dragon before, Romania was my third reservation. After I'd left Hogwarts, I spent about a year just wandering around with the intent to find something I belonged to. I'd found myself amongst the The MacFusty Clan up in Scotland when I discovered my interest in the dragons that they'd taken care of for generations. When Allaster recommended I go into Magizoology, he pointed me to the dragon reservation in the mountains in Wales, it'd been fun but very much dangerous.

"You researchers are a funny lot." He laughed a bit, making me raise a brow.

"How'd ya figure?" I waited to hear this bit, I had a feeling I was about to be made fun of.

"You're all so clever but here you are, lost." Usually I got on great with the tamers but it seemed that I wasn't going to in Romania.

When I'd gotten to Wales, I was given a bit of codding for being a girl and being so young looking. That was fair, I did have the face of a 14 year old at 20. It lasted 'til Allaster flooed to see how I was gettin' on, apparently when one of the MacFustys vouched for you, you were alright.

"Excuse me for not knowing everything." I snorted, trying to not let him get under my skin.

"Eh. Lucky for you, I do." He winked before he ran a hand through his dripping hair. He looked back at the Longhorn and nodded to himself.

"Let me just get Greg settled and I can lead you where ever it is you're trying to go." I watched as he jogged off without actually checking whether or not I wanted that. I mean, I didn't have much of a choice. It wasn't like I could apparate to my cabin, I hadn't a clue as to what was even close to it to guessimate where to land.

I watch him as he arrived near Greg and began to wave his arms all about the place, making me seriously question the reality of this so-called Dragon Sanctuary. Was he just new? Or did all the tamers get their Dragon's attention like this?

Eventually Greg took interest, following the redhead along until he'd gone back to the far left side of the enclosure and figured out that they'd left large hunks of meat for him. I pursed my lips wondering when exactly this guy was going to get out of the Longhorn's way when the tamer sped off like a bat outta hell. Smart man.

"Ready to go?" I glanced back at the redhead as he arrived and shook my head, the fascinating part about this particular breed of dragon was about to start.

"I know its a bit barbaric but this is my favourite bit about Longhorns." I pointed as the dragon finished sniffing over the meats. He'd found the one he liked best apparently, because he grabbed it out of the pile with his mouth and threw it up in the air. I bit back a smile as he thrust his gargantuan green head and skewered the piece on one of his horns before roasting it.

"This isn't your first time around dragons is it?" He asked slowly as I shook my head, still watching the dragon roast his meat just the way he liked it before shaking his head. The cooked piece fell off, landing on the ground near him and he dug in.

"Anyways, where is...cabin five?" I had to think for a second, drumming my hand on my thigh while I remembered which cabin I was actually supposed to be in.

"Right this way." He nodded, taking off to the left of us. I was surprised he didn't make another comment about my interest in watching Greg's eating method but at the same time, I was rather grateful.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thanks!" I was happy to finally be at the cabin I wanted...well more like the one that I was supposed to be in about two hours ago. The tamer had been friendly enough but I was quite knackered at this point so I was hoping he'd get the hint and head off. I went inside, expecting him to go away but instead he seemed to follow me in. Extremely friendly then, it wasn't a bad quality. Just annoying.

"So, I wanted to ask before you disappeared into the pit but uh, some of the other tamers and I were getting together tonight for a pint." I stopped my motions of unpacking in what appeared to be my bedroom and turned to actually face him with my hands on my hips.

"Could be a chance for you to make some friends tonight?' He seemed so sure of himself until I stared at him, waiting for him to finish up and leave. He had a point. I could stand to make some friends here.

"When is this happening?" I paused before I replied noticing the change in his voice. I knew I was a bit unnerving at times, Allaster said I was terrifying at times because I'd just stare with all of zero emotion. I didn't mean too, I'm just shite at displaying emotions most of the time. I think that resting bitch-face came from my da.

"Tonight. At about..." He glanced down at his wrist watch for a quick second, "9ish?" He finished, eyeing me again.

"Uhm..." I pursed my lips, thinking on that for a second. It really would be good for me to make some amount of friends here, especially with the Tamers. When you were friends with your researcher's keepers, everything flowed a lot smoother.

"You don't have too." He seemed a bit disappointed as the silence dragged on...Right! I needed to actually respond, he wasn't a mind reader.

"No, no! That'd be great." I gave him a smile to show I actually did want to go, it seemed to relax him slightly because his shoulders immediately leveled out.

"Alright! I'll drop by in a bit and grab you up for it." He nodded, looking excited about it which surprised me. I opened my mouth to respond when he pulled out his wand and waved it. A loud CRACK echoed across the cabin and he was gone. Sweet mother of Merlin, he had a _loud_ apparition.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the ringing in my head right now and focused on unpacking. I don't think they got many visitors here.

* * *

Another loud CRACK scared the piss out of me from a dead sleep, making me jump up to see _why_ and _who_ did this to me. The redhead was just standing casually leaned against the door frame now, looking a little pink in the face with his hands in his pockets and I forced down the urge to strangle him. Instead, I eyed him for a second as my brain caught up with what was going on. He'd changed into a form fitting black t-shirt jeans. They were stuffed into boots that looked like they might have been brown at one point...if they'd ever been washed they might still be brown.

"Why?" I took in a deep breath, putting my hand to my chest as I got off the bed. Maybe I need to set up an anti-apparition charm.

"Sorry, it was a running joke with my mum. She hated loud sounds but I loved doing it." He grinned easily, looking a lot more relaxed than he had earlier.

"Why do you _keep_ doing it though?" I gave him a half smile, not sure where this was going but I was technically ready to leave. I'd changed into a camisole and some jeans with a jacket in case it got cold.

"Honestly? I've forgotten how to not be loud." He shrugged, giving me a wink as he did so. I stood, cracking my back as I did so but bent back down to slip on my boots.

"Of course you have." I rolled my eyes as I stood again and went forwards for the door. I wanted to tell him I was ready to go but...I'd actually forgotten his name. Great going, Piper. Just...terrific.

"Ready?" He held out his elbow for me, making me stop next to him. I had a feeling we were about to apparate and I warily took his outstretched arm. He smelled cleanish but there was an undertone of something acidic that had me wondering if he'd already had a pint or two. That was worrisome.

"Sur-" I started to speak but stopped at that feeling in my stomach, felt like it'd dropped right out of me. I actually had to hold onto the tamer's arm to steady myself when we'd landed.

"You alright?" He sounded concerned as I huffed.

"I don't think I'll be apparating with you anywhere again." I mumbled, letting go of him. He let out a laugh at that and patted me on the back.

"Don't worry, everyone says that." He actually found this funny, making me grumble a little as we began walking.

We didn't talk much as I followed him through dirt streets, we'd landed somewhere outside of this town or village of sorts. I stared at all the brick and mortar homes, reminding me a bit of England until we came to a dingey part of town where homes seemed to have been build from wood or brick and were only half finished but there were lights on. Muggles actually _lived_ in those? Am I being hazed right now? Is this something that they do to the new-

I felt an arm and a hand wrap itself around my waist, startling me slightly. I was too engrossed with the scenery to realise I'd kept walking when my companion had stopped.

"Woah there." His hand had wrapped itself around my waist, pulling me back to wherever he'd stopped.

"Sorry, got a bit caught up." I declared sheepishly as I took note of the 'pub' we'd come to stop in-front of. It looked to be a broken down house with the windows busted in and some sort of graffiti sprayed across the walls in a language I couldn't read. A slightly paranoid thought popped into my head concerning him possibly murdering me right now.

"Right this way." He sounded almost proud of this place so I really just sort of prayed and hoped this was all a glamour on the outside and I wasn't being led to my death. I followed him up to the door and watched as he tapped on it 3 times. Finally the door swung open to reveal a warmly lit and loud pub within. Oh, thank the heavens! This was a real place and he wasn't leading me to die here. Bless.

"Charlie!" The bartender greeted him loudly as he went in first, leading me to assume this was here specifically for the reserve. So! My dragon tamer's name was Charlie, I needed to remember that...I'm going to forget it, aren't I?

"Ronnie!" Charlie's voice was just as thunderous in this little smokey room as he greeted him. A round of "Heys!" and "Cheers!" sang about the place as the residents took notice of Charlie.

"Oh, I see you've brought a friend." I eyed the bartender with some interest as he did the same to me, his eyes jumped around my figure to land on my face with a toothy grin. I swear, almost everyone in here was a bloke and I felt severely outnumbered right now which made me want to stick close to the only one I actually knew right now.

"Aye, be nice to her. Shes the new research rat." Charlie grinned, throwing an arm around my shoulders as he brought me up the bar. I didn't mind that he'd done it despite the weird message it appeared to send, that I was somehow his charge tonight, but _damn_ was his arm heavy.

"What's your name, lass?" Ronnie leaned on the bar, throwing a dirty rag over his shoulder.

"Piper." I gave him as much of a smile as I could manage at this point. I hated to say it, but this was absolutely nerve wracking right now. There were so many new people and it was so loud in here, I need a drink.

"Nice to meet 'cha, Miss Piper." He stuck out a hand over the bar. "Ronnie." I took his hand and shook it roughly...maybe a little _too_ roughly.

"You've got quite the grip!" He laughed, as I let go of his hand. Definitely too rough. You were just meeting him, not trying to rip off his hand, Piper.

"Sorry." I tried another smile but it came out as more of an apologetic half grin.

"Nonsense. You'll need it with this lot." He waved me off as Charlie's arm shifted around my shoulder to drop down a pinch. I was ignoring it, trying to focus on actually getting myself a drink in this establishment.

"Can I get a fire whiskey?" I almost shouted my order at the poor man but he didn't seem to mind, turning around almost immediately to grab a glass and a bottle. I wasn't 100% sure if this was just how things ran around here or if it was because I'd come in with the bartender's friend.

"Didn't take you for a whiskey girl." Charlie was friendly enough despite my social clumsiness, which was nice.

Ronnie set them down in front of me, apparently letting me serve myself which was his mistake because it seemed I'd be needing this whole bottle right now. I dumped the alcohol into the glass and threw it back in one fell swoop, apparently the only thing I was smooth with tonight was this bottle.

"Theres a lot that a lot of people don't take me for." I grinned at him, watching his head go back as he laughed to himself. The fire whiskey sent tingles as it hit my stomach, I let them spread out to the rest of my limbs happily. It'd help me get through this and it gave me a bit of bravado.

"Fair enough." He nodded to that, moving away from me a bit to lean on the bar in front of me. I guess this is where we'd end up spending most of the night, though I was kinda wondering where the rest of his friends were or if he was the friend for the evening. I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't have minded it.

"What brings you to Romania outside of studying then?" He raised a brow before he turned to Ronnie and waved a finger. I had to assume that meant something between the two of them because a second later, a pint of beer appeared in front of Charlie.

"Just that." I shrugged, turning and pouring myself another drink. He was getting a little too curious for my tastes, I didn't even really know what brought me here. I had nothing to do in England? I wanted to see the world? All good answers in my book.

"Nah." He put down his drink after taking a swig of it. Okay, I guess that wasn't going to fly with him?

"What do you mean, nah?" I laughed a little, raising a brow at him.

"No one just comes down here for the Dragons, love. You're running from something." He declared, leaning a little closer to me. He was eyeing me in a way I didn't quite understand but I didn't dislike it.

"Not much of a runner." I shrugged, and quickly downed the shot I'd just poured. I guess I was running from something, but it was more like running to something. I just wanted to figure out my place in the world and so far it'd been with Magizoology.

"Charlie! Where have you been, ya git?" A particularly loud bloke with shaggy brown hair threw his arm over Charlie, stopping the man from whatever he was about to say. I guessed this was one of the friends I was supposed to meet tonight.

"Agh. You know me, Simon. Here and there." Charlie declared, turning around to give the guy a hug. Sounded like Charlie gave dodgy answers too, leading me to believe that there was a lot more to him than the surface. I stayed silent though, simply smiling until the brunette, or Simon I think, noticed me.

"What have we here?" The man let go of Charlie quickly, leaning down to my level with bated breath and a grin. I never really noticed how short I was at 163 cm until I was around much taller people and I wasn't sure if I should be insulted with how much he leaned down to my height.

"Simon Abbott at your service Miss...?" He held out his hand in some sort of mock gentleman piece, but I went along with it. Probably thanks to that last shot of whiskey.

"Piper." I declared, putting my hand in his.

"Please to meet you, Piper." He grinned before he leaned down and planted a very loud and wet kiss on my knuckle.

"Oh wow." I grinned at him as I retracted my hand rather quickly and mumbled to myself. I was waiting for him to look back at Charlie before I'd try to conspicuously wipe it on my ass.

"Where'd you find her?" Simon finally looked back at Charlie who put down his drink after taking another swig, I didn't notice how quickly he drank. It was nearly empty but this was my chance to wipe my hand.

"Told ya, mate. Here and there." I glanced around the room as I did so to look back at Charlie as he grinned at me, eyeing the hand as I wiped it on my ass. He met my eyes again with laughter in them as I tried to convene a look of 'Don't breath a bloody word'.

"Did you two hear about the new Ironbelly coming in tomorrow?" He seemed to get it, as I turned and took another shot while Simon babbled on.

I'd lost count of how many but it was just enough for me to ignore the burn of the alcohol going down my throat. I could feel the warmth in my cheeks as I eyed Charlie for a second before I looked back at Simon. He was animated but a little slurry...by the looks of Simon, he didn't know how many he'd had either.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, Pipes. You need to go home, you're fluthered and you're eyeing Charlie a little too much too. It wasn't as though he was _unattractive,_ he was actually quite attractive right now. It was more just that he wasn't someone I needed to associate with like that, not that I'd mind-Okay! Enough, Piper.

"Piper?" Simon waved his hand in front of my face as I blinked a bit.

"Yeah?" I raised a brow, turning my attention away from wherever I'd been staring to him.

"You want to play a game with the rest of this lot?" He grinned, motioning to the other people that had joined Charlie and I after my...sixth shot of whiskey? Probably sixth. It was two more blokes, but there was one girl. She was fun, but maybe a little too much fun for me...she kind of came off as a floozie when I realised she'd slept with almost every bloke at the table.

"Come on!" The girl cheered for me to play whatever game it was they wanted to play, I think 'er name was Marie?

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged, shifting my shot glass around on the table we'd moved too after the group had grown from two to six. I guess I could stay for a bit longer.

"Alright!" One of the new guys grinned at me while the other let out an appreciative whistle. The latter was an older Scottish tamer with a large tattoo of a Romanian Longhorn blowing fire on his arm, Rolf, I think. He'd been in Romania for a while, but he seemed to love it here with a tattoo of the first dragon he'd ever gotten close too. I'd already forgotten the younger one's name, unfortunately.

"So! Truth or dare." Simon smacked the table lightly, dragging my attention back to 'im.

"Er...what are my choices?" I tilted my head slightly, eyeing him warily. He looked mischievous to me, like he was up to absolutely no good.

"Truth, you have to say who you're most attracted to around here. Dare, you have to...do four cartwheels in a row." He looked quite impressed with himself for coming up with those choices. I was not impressed, but I was right in thinking there weren't many witches 'round here.

"Fine, truth then." I sighed, there was no way in hell that I'd be able to do four cartwheels right now. I could barely do one when I was sober.

"Well don't hold us in suspense!" The young bloke with a buzz-cut cheekily winked at me, leaning a bit closer on the table.

"Ah, I'll go with Charlie." I nodded to the redhead on my left, who grinned proudly. A series of groans rode in a wave over the booth we were occupying which made me smile a bit.

"I'll take my galleons now, gents." Charlie declared loudly, throwing an arm over my shoulder again and holding his hand out to the group.

"I can't believe you all took bets out already." I scoffed, shaking my head at them. Several of the guys unhappily dumped large gold coins into Charlie's hand.

"Of course they did. You're a new witch!" The other witch slapped my back roughly, grinning at me as though I should have expected this.

"Anyways, ask away, Piper." Simon sighed, sitting back in his seat before he drank from his pint.

"Right...Truth or dare, Charlie?" I raised a brow, deciding to turn to him for a round.

"Options?" He exaggeratedly raised a brow in return, almost mocking my own expression which made me smile.

"Hmm...Truth, you tell us about a guilty pleasure of yours and dare...I'll take suggestions for a dare." I declared, turning back around to the group.

"Make him chug his pint!" The younger tamer yelled excitedly.

"Take his shirt off!" Marie laughed, 'er cheeks were red but the colour suited the bright green of her eyes.

"He has to write to his mum about that time he jumped into the Opal's pen!" Simon looked positively evil with that one, making me seriously consider it after Charlie groaned loudly. Rolf didn't bother giving me a suggestion, just draining his mug of it's contents.

"I'll just take truth." He sighed, leaning back into the booth.

"I like to just take a long bath with the lights off, and sometimes music. Its relaxing!" He tried to defend it as the round of O's and Ah's sounded off across the group.

"Aww, you're just a big teddy bear." Marie giggled, taking another drink of her butter beer. She seemed to be a light weight, considering the level of alcohol in it.

"I'll never live this down." Charlie pulled me closer to him as he smacked his right hand to his face, I could feel the outline of the muscles in his arms and decided he was toned from his work outdoors. The thought made me giggle lightly for some reason, probably the amount of alcohol in my blood stream right now, afterwards he relaxed his arm again. I moved quickly to pull out of his arm and leaned forwards on the table again by putting my elbows on the sticky surface.

"Ye'd have to be oot yer nut to think we would, mate **.** " Rolf raised his glass to that before he drank from it, his accent slipped through his drunken state. I was seriously wondering how there was anything else left in it.

"Next time you draw one up make sure to invite me, mate." Simon winked at him with a grin.

"Alright, Marie! Truth, you've got to tell us exactly how many blokes you've shagged so far. Dare, you have to go tell a man of my choosing that you'd love to take a ride on his desk." Charlie smirked with that, as he watched the only other witch here.

"I'll take dare, mate. I don't keep track of the notches on my bedpost." She nodded to him. I poured myself another shot before I threw it back, deciding I'd need it to watch her do this.

"Course ya don't." The younger tamer snorted, shaking his head.

"Hey, just because I can get a lay and you can't James, doesn't mean you get to grumble about it." She shrugged him off easily. So _that_ was his name! He was a James.

"Alright...I pick...that one." He pointed towards the bar which contained four men, two were leaning against it in one group while the others were sitting in another.

"Which one? The short one? The blonde? The brunette?" She listed off a characteristic of each man, going down the line from the closest to us.

I peered at the second group, recognizing the brown hair. It couldn't have been the same guy from earlier. I mean...it could. This seemed like the place that most of the people in the sanctuary went to relax in the evening. It'd be just my luck anyways.

"The brunette." Charlie was happy with his choice. I pursed my lips as Marie got up and strutted over to the man, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh jeeze." I mumbled to myself as the man turned around, revealing his face. It was the same bloke as earlier. Terrific.

"What?" I'm pretty sure that Charlie has the hearing of a wolf at this point if he could hear my mumbling in this place. I pursed my lips again as I leaned back to reach his ear.

"I think I know that guy." I whispered clumsily into his hair, blowing some of it with my breath.

I sat back up to see the bewildered look on the brunette's face before he looked back over at us. He said something and pointed to the the table in front of Marie who glanced back at us over her shoulder. I felt myself try and sink into the booth when the pair walked back over to where we were. Oh no. Here we go, it'd be another three hour long conversation with this guy.

"This is Abraxas! He works in admin." She introduced him to the rest of the guys who all nodded at him but still eyed Abraxas with various looks of curiousity and suspicion. I started to get the feeling that there were very separate cliques in this place.

"Abraxas this is James, Rolf, Simon, Charlie, and Piper." She introduced the lot of us, pointing at each person as she said their name before she sat down next to me again.

"Nice to see you again, Piper." He raised his mug to me, with a shy smile.

"Oy, wait. You know our Piper?" Simon turned to him, waving his hand at me with a tone that was reminiscent of a protective father.

"Well, sort of-" Abraxas seemed to be quickly backtracking when a black haired and tatted dragon tamer was questioning him. It was almost funny but I cut him off before he dug a hole under 'imself.

"I met him today." I rolled my eyes at Simon, I wasn't a tamer. I wasn't even close to one, honestly. We were just drinking together, though I did make friends a lot faster when I was drinking...something about a pint made me extremely friendly.

"Was this before you decided to give me and Greg a quick wash?" Charlie leaned up now, shoving me lightly with his shoulder and grinning at me.

"Before." I snorted at that, I'd really over done it with the water but that was the plus of conjured water. It disappeared.

"Whats this now?" Rolf raised a brow, getting interested in the fact that I'd doused his friend with water.

"I didn't tell you? I was trying to sweet-talk Greg today, and apparently she'd decided she wanted to watch. Well, Greg got a little rowdy and this one decides to release the waters of hell on us all." He laughed, eyeing me with mischief in his eyes. I felt a blush rush over me with the eye contact as the table erupted into chuckles, I needed to calm myself down.

"Thats not even the best part, I feed him and she decides she wants to watch." Charlie clapped the table as he said this, like it was a crazy and outrageous thing for me to want.

"Thats a first." Marie noted, I glanced at her to find she was shaking from her laughter but she was watching me too.

"What? Whats so weird about it?" I scanned the table for an answer, before I looked back up at Abraxas who stood near us awkwardly. "Do you find it weird?" He shook his head roughly with a small smile my way.

"It's only odd because you're a researcher, love." Charlie threw his arm around my shoulders again, dragging my attention away from Abraxas.

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes at him, shaking my head.

"Anyways, Marie. Your turn." Simon turned to 'er, with a grin before he took another drink.

"Alright! James. My good sir." She grinned wickedly, turning to the short haired tamer who had the decency to look relatively apprehensive.

"Aye?" He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest with a raised brow at her.

"Truth or dare?" She waggled her brows at him.

"Eh. Dare." He shrugged, I guess he was brave enough to not even want to hear what his options were.

"You, have to go outside and try to drink a glass of water." She declared.

"Is that it? Well lets go!" He stood quickly, swaying a bit but looking quite excited.

"Oh I'm not done. You have to try and drink it while standing on your hands." She obviously felt like she'd gotten him with that but he didn't look perturbed as he shrugged. I poured myself another drink, and threw that one back with some ferocity. I couldn't even feel the burn anymore. It might as well have been water.

"Whatever, I'm game." He strode off to the bar as we all stood up. I began tilting ever so slightly when I tried to shimmy my way out of the booth.

"Woah there." I could hear Charlie over the sounds of people chatting as I felt two hands wrap themselves around my waist, steadying me.

"I'm good!" My drunken declaration clashed with the sound of Abraxas, who I'd quite honestly forgotten was still here.

"Uh, see you around, Piper. I'm going to head off." I blinked at him a couple of times as he jerked his thumb back towards the friend he'd abandoned at the bar.

"Right, mate ." I nodded as I took a gander at his friend, his mate was actually fine looking and was watching us with interest. 'I continued to focus on making my way out of the booth with determination before I thought about it.

"Wait!" I called after Abraxas who had made it halfway across the pub before stopping at the sound of my shout. I took off like a bat outta hell, chasing after him without thinking much about the hands who tried to grasp my hips but fell away.

"Piper!" Charlie's voice was calling for me but I stopped just short of running into Abraxas at full speed. I waved Charlie off with a haphazard motion of my hand, focusing on the other guy at the bar who was still watching me.

"What's your mate's name?" I furrowed my brows at the sightly brunette who had leaned down to my height with interest.

"Oh, him? He's a researcher actually. Names Oliver." I nodded slightly, giving the gent a small smile who returned it almost instantly. I liked the way he brushed back his hair with his fingers, it looked soft and I kind of wanted to touch it.

"Sorry, she slipped outta my arms." I opened my mouth to try and talk to him when two arms snaked around my waist, pulling me back towards their owner.

"No worries." Abraxas smiled at me as I pouted. I was pulled away too soon from the two blokes and shifted towards the door, I didn't get the chance to chat with 'im.

"But I wanted to meet Oliver." I huffed, putting my hands on Charlie's while we sort of waddled towards the pub's door.

"I think you've met enough fellows for tonight." He laughed lightly while we passed through the doorway.

"Alright! We are gathered here today to see James fall flat on his face." Marie declared loudly as soon the door closed behind me and my companion who didn't let go of me once we were out. He probably thought I'd run off again, which I kind of wanted to do but there wasn't anyone interesting out here.

I gazed blearily at the short haired bloke who took in a deep breath before throwing himself forward, landing on his hands. Marie humphed but still gave him the glass of water which he steadied himself before taking it. I began to grin as he shook, trying to sip the glass while upside down. We all watched with bated breath as the water slowly left the cup until it was empty and he let himself collapse to the ground.

"HAH!" James shouted victoriously at all of us, most of them clapped. I could feel Charlie's hands clapping against my stomach which made me feel like I ought to as well.

"Well done." Marie appeared to be ever so slightly defeated as she huffed.

"I think I'm going to get this one home." Charlie called to the rest of the group who all turned to us. Marie's eyes darted to Charlie's hands before she began to smirk.

"Oh yeah?" She seemed to almost be chuckling as she swayed.

"Hush!" I yelled with some need to defend our position even though I didn't mind it. I just had a feeling that I'd hear about this in the morning...oh no. I need to be at work at 8. I glanced at my watch to see it was 3 A.M, shite.

"Goodbye!" I shouted to the rest of the group, trying to turn and start marching off in the direction I thought we'd come in. Charlie allowed it, letting go of my waist to pull me close to him with only one arm on my waist.

"Remember to use protection!" Marie bellowed with some glee at our backs.

"Merlin, she doesn't get hints." Charlie mumbled under his breath as we continued on our way. I ignored his words, choosing to focus on the houses we passed on our way and recognizing a few.


	4. Chapter 4

"So what _are_ you running from?" Charlie's voice almost startled me in the dark. We'd made it out of town and into the woods where I assumed he wasn't going to kill me off. Maybe...

"Nothing! I'm just trying to...figure myself out." I declared before realising that I don't think I actually wanted to share that with him. I just felt really relaxed with him right now, and happy. I was happy to be drunk in the woods. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

"Alright. I'm here because theres Dragons." He snorted unceremoniously. I furrowed my brow at that...there was someone in Hogwarts like him. What was his name?

"Did you...go to Hogwarts?" I raised a brow, eyeing my companion with confusion. My gerbils weren't all running in one direction right now, I was struggling to process this.

"Yeah. Gryiffindor. You?" He replied easily. Is it just me or was the world spinning?

"Ravenclaw. We had to be in the same year, right?" I rubbed my temple, trying to figure this out and ignore the woods twisting around me. There had to be a reason he seemed so familiar.

"How old are you again?" He had to be trying to do the same thing right now.

"Uh...20." I nodded to myself, it was sad that I actually had to take a second to think about that.

"You were year behind me then. I'm 21." He declared with a nod.

"Ah, alright." I nodded back, unsure of what else to do because I was tired of trying to figure out why he was familiar. It was quiet out here and all I could hear was us, crunching leaves under our feet.

"Charlie..." I pursed my lips as I realised we'd just past under the boundaries of the reserve due to the lights I could see off in the distance.

"Yeah?" He licked his lips as I gazed at him.

"I don't remember where I live." I declared dumbly, I should have gone home earlier. He stared at me for a second before he burst into laughter.

"What?" I gasped, feeling a bit insulted in his laughter.

"Nothing, nothing. Just follow me." He kept chuckling between words, making me grumble to myself.

* * *

I rolled over in bed, feeling a bit claustrophobic and hung over. My head hurt and my lips were dry, I needed water. I blinked a bit until I could focus on the ceiling but it was dimly lit, wait...I looked to the left and felt my eyes turn into saucers. There was a shirtless man in my bed!

I sat up quickly, almost falling out of the bed as I stared at this bloke. He was definitely toned, with three scars trailing up his stomach. Looked like he had a run in with something with claws. He mumbled in his sleep and moved closer to my hips, I could feel an arm across my lap and felt the panic level shoot up until I noticed the red hair.

"Wait a bloody minute." I whispered as I scanned the room with what little light there was. This wasn't my room, there were men's clothing in the closet and a big arm chair in the corner that had a pile of dirty clothes in it. Oh no. I felt sick to my stomach, I slept with Charlie.

Wait, no. I struggled to think back to the night prior and checked my watch quickly. It was 7 am which was a blessing in disguise. I had enough time to get ready for work and maybe slip out of here without anyone seeing me.

"Piper?" I moved to roll out of the bed when Charlie spoke up, my head spun to see him blinking at me tiredly.

"No?" I meant to make it a statement but it came out as a question when he leaned up to see me better. I wanted to smack myself in the face. Well if he didn't know it was me by now, he never would.

"Do you want some water?" He sat up a little slower than I had, rubbing his eyes.

"Er...yeah, but I can get it." I pursed my lips before I nodded. Why hadn't I just gone back to my place last night? I could barely remember anything but that might be because I was still a little intoxicated.

"It's alright, I got it." He waved me off, as he came out of the bed. I was sorry to say that I enjoyed the view as he walked across the room in boxers, he seemed to have several tattoos on his back. Ones I don't think I saw before. They looked to be various breeds of Dragons, all beginning to wake up.

I pulled back the covers to notice my shirt had ridden up, making me pull it back down roughly before I stood. I ran my fingers through my hair with a sigh, this was why I didn't need to go drinking with random people.

"Here." Charlie had appeared back in the room without me noticing, he handed me the glass and promptly laid back in the bed with a huff.

"Thanks." I mumbled as I went to set my feet on the ground, the wooden boards were cold. The shiver that I got from it made me instantly regret putting my feet down.

"Do...you remember anything about last night?" I peered at Charlie who had his arm over his eyes.

"You kept trying to run off to some bloke at the bar so I took you home but you didn't remember where you lived." He mumbled into his arm, not looking at me.

"Well, that sounds like me." I pursed my lips, waiting to hear the part where we'd shagged but this didn't feel like the behaviour that would happen the morning after. I took a sip of water and detected the familiar pepperminty and ginger flavour of a draught for particularly hungover wizards.

"Don't worry, I was a gent no matter how many times you tried to get in my pants." He moved his arm, grinning wickedly at me. I almost choked on the water, coughing at the idea I'd tried getting into his underpants.

"I'm kidding! We got back and you threw your jacket at me to pass out in my bed." He laughed, hard. I glowered as his laughter shook the bed I was sitting on.

"You git." I sighed, deciding to down the rest of the drink and stand. I stretched, popping a bit of my back and shoulder joints.

"Not that I'd mind." He seemed to mumble to himself, so I elected to pretend I didn't hear him but pulled my shirt back down.

"I've gotta run." I started looking for my shoes and jacket after I checked my watch to find it was 7:25 now. I was moving slow today, apparently.

I didn't hear a response out of Charlie at that but I could hear the sounds of the bed creaking when he got up off of it as I checked. I'd found one shoe but no jacket.

"Here." I turned to find Charlie holding out the other shoe and my jacket with a bemused expression.

"Thanks." I smiled at him before I bent down to slip on my boots. I didn't want to say anything more, worried I'd make this awkward somehow. I didn't do so well in these sorts of situations, like at all.

I moved out of the bedroom once I was done, trying to not look in a mirror to see my hair right now. It couldn't be good. I noticed how much his place smelled like a man when I stepped into the hall, it was like he sprayed a cologne that smelled of Dragon Hide and Skrewt Oil.

"Uh..." I opened the door and turned to say bye before I scuttled off to try and find my place to see Charlie. He was casual about this despite leaning on his door frame in nothing more than his boxers. I was taken aback by his physique now that I could actually see it in the light, my eyes trailed up to his face. He was smirking at me which was unsettling.

"See you around, Piper." He was bemused by the fact that I was distracted by him, which I promptly ignored.

"Bye." My words were short before I turned and quickly started walking in a random direction.

"Cabin five is that way, love." I stopped my walking at the sound of Charlie's voice. Oops.

"Right." I nodded, glancing over my shoulder to see he was pointing to the left of where I was going originally. I turned that direction and headed off in a hurry, already slightly more embarrassed that I started out.

* * *

I never realised just how much I despised paperwork until I had a mountain of it to fill out. I'd made it down to the final pages before I realised I was actually starving, I felt better than this morning though. Charlie's water or draught or whatever did wonders for me, I don't know how muggles made it without magic.

"Hey." I jumped a little at the sound of a deeper male voice next to my desk. I turned my head to see that it's owner was the guy from last night, I vaguely remember him sitting at a bar but that was about it.

"Hi." I greeted him from my seated position, watching his eyes dart from my finished paperwork to my face.

"I'm Oliver Pruwitt. You were at Ronnie's last night, right?" He leaned on my desk, crossing his arms as he made conversation. People were extremely friendly here but I didn't mind this one too much, he was quite good looking.

"Yeah. I'm Piper. " I introduced myself, sans last name. I don't really know why I didn't include my last name but, it felt pointless to do so. No one really knew of the Morgensons, we'd ducked out during the war and we'd kept our heads low ever since. Pure-bloods didn't have a good reputation after Voldemort which was funny considering he was a half-blood.

"Right, you hungry?" He raised a brow right as my stomach growled. I set down the quill I'd been using to sign and date the pages I'd already gone through.

"Little bit." I let a sheepish half smile on my face at the sound of my body's determination to embarrass me.

"Theres a cafe up here that we usually go to for lunch, you're welcome to join us." Oliver shrugged with a chuckle. I was wondering who 'we' were but I had to assume he meant the rest of the researchers.

"That sounds terrific." I nodded as I stood, pushing my chair back into it's place.

"You're new here, right?" I glanced at Oliver who appeared to be making conversation as I followed him to wherever this place was for food.

"That's right. How could you tell? " I grinned.

"Uh, the glassy look in your eyes, the fact you were with Weasley last night, paperwork on your desk." He snorted at my question. It seemed that they didn't mix much with the Dragon Tamers and vice-versa due to the clashing natures of both.

"Oh? Does he, uh. Have a reputation or something?" I raised a brow, my curiosity was getting the best of me. It couldn't be that bad, he was a gentleman to me last night and I was thankful for it.

"Not him in particular, just all the Dragon tamers. They're not known the be the brightest or the most loyal." He let out a low chuckle at that, making me raise both brows as I stared forwards at the grassy path. I guess they were known for being idiotic womanizers then? What a combo.

I didn't say anything else and luckily, neither did Oliver as we came up to a little building with a selection of tables and chairs surrounding it. It was quaint, the little yellow building with a stripped cloth overhang and a display of various sandwiches and greens. There were already people here but my eye sight was too poor to see who was there.

"They've got all kinds of stuff. Some of it's local though, so be aware." He laughed lightly at that, dragging my attention back to him as we came closer.

"What, the local food isn't good?" I raised a brow, trying to get myself to be a little more relaxed here. I was going to be here for the next year, so I might as well have some fun.

"Some of it is but I'd stay away from the cheese, if I were you." He shrugged as we hit the building. I leaned down, browsing through the food on display.

"I'll grab a slice of Shepard's Pie, and some pumpkin juice." Oliver already knew what he wanted, apparently. I assumed he'd been here once or twice before.

"Piper?" I looked over my shoulder, to see the familiar red hair and eyed the crew behind him who were all grinning at me. It was the same group, Rolf, James, Simon, and Marie who all appeared to have relatively recouped from last night. It felt like they did this drinking all night thing a lot as Marie waved at me with excitement. I gave her a small wave back with a smile.

"Hey." I nodded to him, turning my head back to scrutinise the food in front of me.

"I'll take a BLT, please." I gave my order to the girl who nodded, writing it down.

"Anything to drink?" She looked up from her notes, eyeing me before glancing behind me. I could see Charlie's larger figure come up behind me and nodded at her.

"Water, please." I declared before turning around to greet Charlie.

"I was wondering when I'd see your face again." He grinned at me before, glancing at Oliver. I followed his eyes to Oliver who stood near us. He was awkwardly waiting for me to finish the conversation, I guess.

"Well, its now." I snorted lightly. I didn't really know what to do right now, Oliver didn't seem to want to acknowledge Charlie which was just as well since Charlie didn't seem to want to talk to him either.

"How ya doin?" Charlie continued to make conversation, unperturbed by Oliver just standing there.

"I'm fine, you?" I shrugged, leaning up to give the girl behind the counter two galleons before I grabbed my food and waited for any possible change.

"I'm great. Though this morning, got a little lonely." He trailed off, making me want to smack him in the arm as my eyes darted to Oliver. He just raised a brow at me. Great. Now Oliver thinks I slept with Charlie, I mean I did sort of. But I literally slept next to him. I quickly turned to the display and grabbed my change and water off the top, making a motion to walk forwards.

"PIPER!" Simon bellowed my name at the top of his lungs, startling me. Oliver stopped as well, making me notice that he'd actually started moving next to me.

"I'm like four meters away from you." I rolled my eyes at Simon who simply grinned.

"Yeah, but I want you to be less than four meters away from me." He winked which made my eyes roll even harder.

"You're going to give me a coronary one day, mate." If I kept this up, my eyes were going to slip into the back of my skull soon.

"Oh, I'm sure Charlies willing to nurse you back to health if it happens." He snorted, leaning back into the metal chair he was sitting in.

"Hes got better things to do." I dismissed Simon quickly before I glanced at Marie. She was sitting across from him who winked at me. My cheeks started to heat up as my eyes darted back to Oliver, he was less than happy to be standing here and I didn't blame him.

"You wanna sit over here, Piper?" Oliver finally spoke up, giving me an out to what was happening right now. He was motioning to a table on the far left, away from the group of tamers.

"Sure." I nodded, turning to go to it.

"We'll join you!" Charlie yelled at my back which made me a little less than ecstatic. I enjoyed his company, just like I liked the rest of them but it seemed like Oliver didn't enjoy any of them.

"Great." I heard Oliver sigh under his breath, making me purse my lips. I felt kinda bad but maybe this was a chance to change his mind about the tamers. They were nice _and_ they were fun.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm not saying that researchers are a bad lot. _Obviously._ " Simon waved his hands at me, as though he was making some point that I should have known about already.

"Then what are you saying?" I rolled my eyes, leaning back into my chair and crossing my arms.

"Just that some of you are boring, like a pair of old socks on Christmas." Simon bobbed his head roughly, again like this was a fact I should have known already. My eyes strayed to Oliver who hadn't said a word since they sat down. Instead he'd been glaring between Marie and Simon, making me feel like there was some history that I didn't know about here.

"Well...thanks for that, love." My lips were pressed into a thin line as I raised a brow at him, spewing sarcasm.

"Oh, my. I'm your love, am I?" Simon waggled his brows as he leaned on the table with his elbows.

"Did ya hear that, Charlie?" James was taunting in a friendly joking way. I followed his eyes to Charlie's who seemed to just roll his own, unperturbed by the jabbing. I was sort of glad for that, it meant we were just friends and I'm pretty sure thats what I wanted.

"I heard it...sounded familiar...Ah! Must have been you whimpering in the bedroom last night." He nodded slowly, thinking before he came back with a knowing look. My mouth dropped wide open as he said it, so much for the friendliness.

"Charlie!" I smacked the side of his shoulder roughly, with little remorse until he grabbed it.

"Ah!" He grasped his shoulder loosely, moving away from me. I paused, registering that it'd sounded like he was actually in pain.

"Did I actually hurt you?" I raised a brow as my eyes darted between his shoulder and his face, scrutinizing the truth of it.

"...No." He face eventually quirked into a grin as his hand fell away to reveal a large and shiny burn on his shoulder.

"Charlie! You liar. You've burned yourself." I mumbled, inspecting the burn. Seemed like it'd blister up in a day or two but he really needed to treat this now rather than later. I ran my finger along the outside of it, frowning at just how red and angry it looked.

"I bet it'd get better if you kissed it." Charlie mumbled cheekily, winking at me when I glanced up at him with some confusion in my eyes.

"Men." I scoffed and drew away from him entirely, choosing to focus on Oliver instead.

"I think you just got rejected, Weasley." Marie giggled, leaning her elbow on Rolf's shoulder who was less than entirely interested in the conversation...I'm pretty sure the man was asleep considering his eyes were closed and his head leaned forward.

"I like them feisty." Charlie shrugged when my eyes darted back to his, he seemed a little _too_ determined for me.

"Sure you do. Let me know when you find one, Charlie." I mumbled as I shook my head with a smirk. I'm not entertaining him...I'm not! I just happen to be existing next to him and find him slightly funny.

"Anyways, Oliver! What do you usually do around now?" I raised a brow, hoping to bond with someone actually in my department and I'd see everyday as opposed to the tamers which seemed I'd just seem them at lunch.

"Uh...generally we just take the vital signs of the dragons and any other sort of data you might be researching." Oliver nodded, focusing on me instead of his glaring contest with Simon and Marie.

"Thats...kind of boring." I blinked a couple of times, staring at him incredulously.

"SEE?" Simon slapped the table, making me jump forwards and bump into the table slightly.

"Hush." I narrowed my eyes at him, huffing at the fright he'd just given me.

"Even you agree though." Simon waved his hand at me as though I'd just proven his entire argument in one move.

"I do not." I leaned back into my chair, and felt a larger hand wrap itself around my shoulder loosely. I glanced at Charlie to see his eyes dart away from mine just as I looked back.

"It was just that one particular thing that was boring." If I kept rolling my eyes this hard, they'd fall out of my head soon.

"I mean you're lookin' at vampires, yeah? You'll be out in the field once you're done with the paperwork." Oliver supplied steadily, making me pause a second. I don't think I'd shared that with anyone but the scary scottish lady at the front desk. Should have known people would gossip.

"Um." I tilted my head at him, peering for a response. He seemed enthused by my research but Charlie's hand had tightened on my shoulder.

"What do you mean you're looking at vampires?" Charlie didn't sound nearly as jovial as he did before, I glanced around the table to find no one did. Terrific.

"I'm just looking into them." I shrugged.

"Yeah, which part though?" I could feel Charlie's stare on the side of my face. Why was he so upset about this? It was just a project.

"All parts. Turning, habits, locations, mates, food source. Just normal stuff about any sort of creature, really. Nothing crazy." I rambled on,

"Yeah, but they're not creatures, are they? They're beings, Piper." Simon spoke up this time, looking a bit disappointed me. Jeeze, why so much judgement?

"So? Whats got a stick up your arses? Dragons are a ton more dangerous." I raised a brow, glancing around the table.

"Its different, dragons are creatures with a certain set of pros and cons but vampires are sentient. They can lie." Marie spoke up this time, frowning.

"And? People lie too. I've gotta run guys. It's been great." I snorted, standing and waving away the remains of my sandwich and drink. In the back of my head, I understood they were concerned but the rest of my head was stubborn enough to say stuff 'em. I could get by on my own.

* * *

Oliver had been kind enough to walk me back to my cabin as I wasn't great at finding it still. He was nice enough, though a bit boring to be honest. He was average. I eyed the side of his face, attempting to be conspicuous about it as I did so. He didn't have any scars like Charlie, nothing entirely breath taking in his eyes or hair.

"See anything interesting?" Charlie Weasley's voice startled me, making me jump ever so slightly when I spun my head around to see him leaning on my door frame.

"Ah...Weasley." Oliver nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Pruwitt." Charlie nodded.

"Morgenson." I threw in my last name as well, just for fun. It got a small chuckle out of Charlie but nothing from Oliver who just stared at me for a second.

"See you tomorrow, Piper." Oliver decided he'd leave right as I walked closer to Charlie, terrific. Now it was just Charlie and I...I felt some blood rush to my face as I stared at everything but the redhead.

"Got a minute?" Charlie cleared his throat after the second minute ticked by of us just standing outside my front door.

"Yup." I shrugged, pushing the door open and quickly marched in, hoping that the first turn was for the kitchen. Score! It was my nearly empty kitchen, I had a few glasses and two chairs that were sat against the bar.

"You alright?" I nodded roughly at his question, electing to turn on the sink and take a long gulp of water after I'd filled the glass.

"Yeah." I nodded again, wiping the remaining water from around my mouth.

"Doesn't seem like you're alright." I glanced over my shoulder to see Charlie staring at me warily with a raised brow as he took a few steps closer. I'm pretty sure I could feel my heart beat in my eardrums right now.

"Actually, you know? I could do with some alright-juice." I declared, ignoring how much closer he was coming to focus on finding the one bottle of whiskey I had left. I don't even know why I was freaking out right now, it was like I could feel every step he took...I think this is just because the last time I was alone with him I was still a little drunk.

"Eh, pour me one too while you're at it." Charlie came much closer this time, throwing his arm over my shoulder. My back was a little _too_ rigid right now.

"Why do you want one?" I tried to snort but it came out a little strangled. He seemed to always be full of confidence but now all of a sudden he wanted some alcohol to be alone with me? Seriously?

"Because I'm going to need it if I'm going to spend all night convincing you to leave the vampire's alone, love." Charlie's arm pulled away just enough for me to feel his hand run down my spine lightly.

"Oh...You think you've got a chance, huh?" I pursed my lips before I threw my head back and roughly sucked down the shot in one action.

* * *

Oh my god, my head hurts.

I rolled over and stopped myself at the feeling of cold, so I rolled back to the other side to find it was entirely too warm. Jeeze, I couldn't find a single good middle of the road place here.

"Stop moving so much." Something mumbled into my back as an arm wrapped itself around my middle. I froze, who is hell is in my bed?

"Uhm." I sat up quickly right as I heard the other person grumble some more. I glanced at the sheets in the dark as they moved without me actually moving, there was definitely someone else in my bed. I scrambled for my wand and found it eventually under the pillow I'd been sleeping on. I flicked it on and spun around to see a wisp of long red hair and the edge of a burn.

"Oh no." I pursed my lips, staring at the wisp as it groaned and moved away from my light.

I couldn't remember anything from last night.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't think I've ever heard "Oh no" the morning after." Charlie's voice was sleepy as he wrapped an arm around my bare stomach, tugging me slightly to lay back down. That sure as shite _wasn't_ happening and where in the fuck were my clothes? My gaze darted around the room, noting the empty bottle of whiskey on it's side and the clothes in individual piles around the bed.

"Well..." I was nearly hissing, trying not to disrupt the headache that left me with little to go on in terms of thought. I shivered slightly, feeling just how cold it actually was in here and slid down under the sheets slowly like I hadn't just refused to do so.

"Piper? Are you okay?" He sat up now, looking worried and mildly upset.

"Do I _look_ okay to you? What happened?" I glared at him, ignoring the fact that my stupid mind found the frizzed red curls adorable with how sleepy he looked still.

"What do you mean 'do you look okay'-" I didn't know why _he_ was upset, he'd gotten laid and now he could go brag about it to everyone he knew-since apparently the tamers 'round here did that.

Though, I was impressed he could match my level of angry hissing but he'd stopped, suddenly looking horrified. "You don't remember." His face turned a touch ashen after he'd whispered, and ran his fingers through his hair in some sort of nervous tick.

I almost smacked him with the wand in my hand but settled for actually hissing, "Obvious-" I paused, blinking a bit as a snippet of a memory ran through my head.

 _He frowned, looking at me with bright blue eyes that were glazed over. I glanced at his arms as he sat up, admiring the sheen of the burn he'd gotten earlier and maybe I stared at his biceps for a bit but its not my fault! He was propping himself up with his arms and he just looked sort of deli-_

 _"Fine. Then you can't gro alone." Heh. His face was so red now and he couldn't even talk right. Look who can't hold his_ _liquour_ _now,_ _Weasley_.

 _H_ _e appeared to be out of sorts as he brought a hand up to clumsily run it through his frizzy hair. I giggled to myself as I considered that his face was officially as red as his hair, I wished I had a camera. Plenty of books and scrolls but no bloody camera, damn it, Piper._

 _"Whale, why not?" My head doesn't appear to want to stay up right anymore, it kept rolling back onto his stomach as he laid down fully with me. "Thats a stupid rule." Who knew the floor could be comfortable if you had a Weasley to lay on?_

 _"Vampires are dangerous. What am I supposed to do if one decides to stick to you?" I frowned at the worry in his voice and looked up at him from my spot on his lap as he ran his fingers through the top of his hair. I'd pulled it loose from the little bun he'd had after the first hour out of mild fascination with how soft it looked...mildly disappointing. It was rough just like his hands._

 _"Why would you care?" I raised a brow, reaching blindly for the bottle of whiskey I'd left off to the side of us somewhere. I sat up after a few seconds of reaching around with nothing to show for it and spotted it next to Charlie._

 _"Because I think you're grand!" He snorted, apparently noticing my decision to crawl over to the whiskey and snatched the bottle away. "And how am I supposed to get a chance if you've got the prince of Darkness breathing over your shoulder or sinkin' his teeth into your neck?"_

 _"How am I grand?" I huffed at him, only paying him half a mind. Damn it, I forgot he had way longer arms than me. Now, Piper, you need to plan your next move very_ _carefully_ _. I slid forwards slowly, hoping he didn't notice me until I felt like I could snatch it and catapulted myself forwards with a grin._

 _"Because," he gave me a toothy grin, holding it just out of my reach when I tried to grab it, "you don't all weird around me or try to measure out the dragon's arseholes like Pruwitt."_

 _"Uh huh." I nodded at him, considering my next plan for a moment. Alright, so, it was harder than I thought it'd be to actually think right now. Well standing up could probably work, right? Yeah, I was way more sober than him right now, he'd be too slow. I_ _attempted to force myself to stand but tipped over slightly to find myself falling with the amusing Muggle idiom I'd heard as a child, 'Houston we have a problem.'_

 _"Merlin..." I blinked when the floor didn't smack my face. It took me a second to realise that not only had I been caught, but that Charlie was close enough for me to see each freckle on his tanned face all the way down to his lips. My fingers were suddenly tracing his jaw of their own accord, feeling the rough hairs prickling them._

 _"Whose Houston?" He raised a brow, watching me as I admired just how fucking attractive he was in the dim lighting of my bedroom._

 _"Piper?" I leaned in a little, noticing how still he'd become and that he smelled a little like I hadn't met a guy that I'd actually spoken too for more than an hour and actually liked in ages._

 _"Piper..." He said my name with a gravelly voice that enticed me when I leaned in a little to inhale his smell. "Whose Houston?" His head tilted with his eyes on mine when I glanced back up to peer at him. Was he doing it on purpose? Maybe he was actually married and unhappy which would explain why he'd bother coming here._

 _All the guys on these reserves were usually married and soon-to-be divorced, or just plain weird. The last one-wuzzis name, Oliver? No, that was the researcher guy, right? I shouldn't kiss him, it'd be a nightmare to deal with the possible backlash...but I wanted to so bad and he was right here. One couldn't hurt right?_

"Piper..." He worriedly licked the cracks in his dry lips as I continued to stupidly blink at him, "I swear. I-I didn't know you were that battered." I found myself attempting to recall what it'd felt like to kiss them, but finally forced a shrug out as my response to his apologies.

"Rhys." I breathed the name to myself, the sudden realization smacked me in the face and left me utterly confused.

The bloke from the Welsh reservation, his name was Rhys and I had no idea how I'd forgotten that given our short weird little romantic tryst. Well the confusion was mainly from the realization that I might have actually slept with Charlie and that I didn't feel as bad about it as I should have. I felt almost...excited?

"What?" He furrowed his brow when I glanced back at him, allowing my gaze to travel down what I could see of his chest.

I appreciated the few bits of red hair that stuck out from the paleness of his scarred chest. In fact, I liked the small number of them more than I would have thought considering Rhys had been rather hairy.

Once I'd gotten over the bewilderment that I had actually taken a second to enjoy gawking at his chest, I was more focused on the stark contrast of the paleness of his pecs with the tan on his arms. It was sort of funny, really.

It was funny that I thought knowing the fact that his chest was pasty compared to his arms was something important about him in my current state of mind. Well...he didn't take his shirt off often then, at least not outdoors.

"Nothing." I shook my head once, "its..." I pursed my lips, "fine." I was attempting to process the emotional whiplash I was feeling right now...and that the room was slightly whirly. I checked my watch out of habit to find it was 9 am, I needed to go submit paperwork and start talking to locals for any 'sightings' or legends but Merlin, I didn't want to right now.

"No, Piper its not." He shook his head not accepting my attempt to quiet him. "I'm so sorry," he apologised with sincere despair in his eyes.

I stared at him with some annoyance building to find that his face was still looking a little pallid under the splattering of freckles and tanned skin. Funnily enough, I didn't get that familiar sense of regret that I usually did when I slept with someone with alcohol included. What was _really_ terrifying for me to know was that I think I'd be fine with waking up to him even if there hadn't been some Whiskey. O' how the mighty hath fallen.

"Seriously." I sighed, deciding I could stay in bed for a few more hours as I flicked off my wand, leaving us in darkness once again. "It's really okay." I pulled the sheets up to my shoulders, attempting to save the warmth that they'd held a few minutes ago and slid my wand back under my pillow. "I don't mind waking up to you." I mumbled drowsily, feeling my eyes slowly shut.

"Um." Charlie sounded absolutely confused in the darkness, not moving a single centimeter after I'd covered myself again. "Are you sure?" Normally, I would have found it hilarious that the bloke, who was normally so confident, didn't know what to do for once. But, right I just wanted to sleep a little more. I was exhausted.

"For Merlin's sake, Charlie." I sighed, letting my hand above the sheets to search around until I felt what I figured was his shoulder. "Lay down." I pushed down on the bit of skin and muscle I had under my hand and felt it slowly sink until I felt the bed dip.

I could feel sleep sneaking up on me and was excited for it to finally arrive. My breathing slowed with the faint scent of skrewt oil drifting over me and I felt myself relax, allowing my hand to slip down his shoulder until I retracted it back to my side out of the drowsy fear that I'd scratch the burn on his arm.

"You _sure_ it's fine? You're like 100...and _10_ percen-" He started again, forcing my eyelids to pop open.

"Aruggh," I groaned loudly enough to drone out the rest of his questions after he'd scared the sleepiness right out of my eyelids.

"Charlie, I said it was _fine_ ," I sat up a little in the dark, as though this would communicate my seriousness better as I dug my nails into his shoulder. "If you don't shut up and go back to sleep, right this instant..." I breathed in slowly, considering my threat as carefully as my hazy mind allowed.

"So help me, I will find your mother and tell her you jumped into that Opal's pen myself," I threatened with an absurdly calm voice. I was proud of myself, actually. I mean, despite the fact that I have no idea as to where his mum was, or who she was, or if she was even alive but I knew that he'd passed by that threat yesterday. Or was it the day before yesterday?

"Alright!" He almost squeaked, his voice so high-pitched, but his hand came around and pulled mine off of him easily. "No need to go around threatening my life, Piper. Thats called murder y'know."

I was surprised that he was chuckling, but I was even more surprised when I felt him press his lips against my knuckles. I blinked into the darkness, unsure as to whether or not I was being made fun of or if I was still drunk and that threat sounded more intimidating in my head than outloud.

"Just go back to sleep." I mumbled, laying flat against the bed again and got comfortable. Unfortunately, I found myself less sleepy when he didn't let go of my hand and I swore that I could feel his chest moving as he breathed.

The mental image had me staring at the outline of his body in the darkness for what I thought might have been 15 minutes before his hand relaxed and he began to snore lightly. When I started to pull my hand out of his grasp, I felt like an absolute idiot. I'd spent precious time to just stare into the dark at a blob under the sheets when I could have been napping.

* * *

Being by myself and doing the simple necessities of research like wandering in the woods gave me some of the happiest times in my life, this was where I felt entirely at peace with my place in the world. In the back of my head, I knew I should feel a little lonely and maybe even consider how odd of a person I actually am but instead I just sucked in a nice deep breath of pine-filled air.

A local girl, Sofia I think, pointed me in the direction of the woods but to look for the 'most densely packed area that smells of death'. Not incredibly helpful considering that I wasn't sure if the smell of death could overpower the smells of pine and plant decay around me right now but, I did notice places in which the trees were closer together.

Their branches and leaves blocked out a lot of the sunlight and I'd begun to notice incredibly odd shapes in the trees. They sort of...curved to one side. As in their base was firmly in the ground but a few centimeters above the brush, the trunks formed a sideways U before they went straight up again. Spooky.

I followed the brush that looked the least well-grown, hoping it'd been slower than its fellow plants because it'd been walked on occasionally. Of course, it could be that it hadn't gotten enough light or water or the trees were sucking the nutrients-okay so there were a lot of possibilities. My point was that it'd been flattened, weaker, and I hoped it was due to feet.

To be fair, little was known about vampires in the Wizarding world so who was to say that vampires even walked? We knew they were pale, often gaunt looking and tall. We knew that their diet was blood, which explained their elongated upper canines, and some may be able to turn into bats. Basically, they might as well have been as well studied as the Pygmy Pu-

I took a step forwards, crunching a particularly dry limb onto some red toadstools and felt myself violently shudder all of a sudden. I stopped and looked up from the ground out of confusion, what was I thinking about again?

"What..." I furrowed my brow, unsure of how I'd gotten here and where here was? Why was I here? I stared at the greenery around me, there was moss on the trees and it was dark here but where was I? Okay, don't panic. Let's consider this Piper...you're in the woods. What are you doing in the woods? Are you drunk?

Glancing down, I pulled a bit of my knit sweaters collar up to my and sniffed it. It smelled lightly of the berry scent that typically occurred when I used magic to clean my clothes.

"Not drunk." I muttered to myself, slightly dazed as I let go of the fabric and pulled out my wand from it's holster on my hip. I flicked it lightly, only wanting a little light right now as I attempted to find my bearings and not disturb the animals around me. I typically relied on my intuition when my mind couldn't process something in my surroundings and right now, my intuition felt that something was amiss but not necessarily dangerous.

I spun to the side as a branch cracked somewhere near me, "who's there?" I was whispering while trying to force out the fear I felt sneaking it's way into my chest and gripped my wand a little tighter. I kept telling myself that everything was fine and that I was smart enough to deal with whatever came at me, despite my anxiety as I had no idea where I was or why I'd been determined to come here.

Generally, I believed in blind gut-feeling more than my logical side, that much was easy for me unless it was a morally grey social situation like someone had lied with good intentions. This morning I'd woken up in a panic that lasted up until my gut insisted that I was actually quite alright with Charlie and I was good with all that, but right now I was seriously questioning it's ability to sniff out danger.

Another branch snapped and I still saw nothing when I spun back around to stare at the emptiness as the silence resumed. There appeared to be nothing here except a loony witch and the tall old trees, yet my gut told me that was odd.

There should have been some sort of wildlife around here, it was far enough away from the reservation and any other sorts of human life. I should have heard birds twittering or animals scurrying, right?

I'm being...misled? No, that wasn't the right term. My logic kept telling me that I'd just gotten confused and lost my way back to the reservation but my gut kept fighting with it, determining that I've been tricked somehow.

I whispered to myself, "thats simple," deciding that I could actually check for magic. As in, I am a witch so I could do that easily and if there wasn't any, then I had just gotten lost in the woods.

"Revelio" I waved my wand in the R shape that I'd recalled this spell needing and watched as the pale silver tendrils stretched out of it's tip.

A low buzzing noise greeted my ears that confirmed I could now see anything magic related, and I pondered that maybe I actually had just gotten confused when nothing lit up blue as I turned to glance at everything.

All of my doubts in my instincts were quickly extinguished when I spotted a man that hadn't been there before to the side of me. He towered over me with lithe limbs and had an uncomfortably pale look about him, like he was an inch from death's reach despite how young he looked.

I blinked as he frowned at me, both of us appeared to be incredibly confused but I wasn't sure if it was about the same thing right now. My head tilted, not entirely sure if I should be worried or interested in his existence, I wondered if he knew why I was here and where here was exactly. He leaned in a little towards me, eyeing my raised hand with great interest and I wasn't entirely sure if he understood that he was no longer invisible.

I took one step to the side for some distance between us and watched with interest as he moved around me with silent steps through the brush. He was obviously magical in some aspect but it was odd that he hadn't seen a wand before gauging by his speculative glances between me and the piece of wood.

His hand raised towards mine, "do you know what this is?" I spoke softly, not moving my hand or my wand when he jerked back from me like I'd burned him.

"How do you see me?" He was rather heavy sounding on the e's, though not to the point that his words were marred. His eyes were wide and I noticed that they were dark, but not like a dark brown or something-no. They reminded me somewhat of a drawing's eyes with black circles instead of an iris and pupil, giving me the urge to shudder.

"Um." I swallowed, "magic?" I shrugged, not entirely sure how to answer that question without sounding like a prat.

I'd come to the conclusion that either this was a Muggle on some sort of drug or the more likely answer; this was a magical being and given our surroundings my common sense was vouching for a Vampire. The possibility excited my curiosity and by effect, excited me even more so.


End file.
